And the Winner is...

Thank you to all who particpated, we enjoyed reading your entries! We've chosen Tammy of the Etsy shop, HairBowDiva, as the winner of our "Name Those Tins" contest. We chose 3 of the 4 names she submitted, "Sunny Day", "Baby Boy on the Move" and "Polka-Dot Fun". We decided to name the butterfly tin, "Butterfly Baby". For her prize, Tammy can choose from our selection of hand-crafted vintage photographic image greeting cards available in our shop. Thanks again, keep watching for our next give-away!

Cinnamon & Spice... Our First Art Show

This is an exciting time for Cinnamon & Spice Crafts! We’ve got oodles of hot new projects coming up. We’re also preparing for our first craft show on May 3, 2008. Cinnamon has created a new greeting card line which you can check out in the April 10, 2008 post. Spice has created a mini (6.5 x 12 inches) version of the pillow kids, they are absolutely adorable. Creating our own business has certainly become a rewarding venture. I don’t believe that either one of us would ever have imagined how one or two ideas would spill over into the things we’ve got going on now. Our focus for the next week will be the craft show. We’re currently working on organizing our product line, presentation and displays. We’ve done quite a bit of research in etsy.com for best practices for the craft fair set up. Here are some of the links that we’ve referenced: How to Set Up a Craft Booth at a Weekly Farmer's Market.""Tips to Maximize Your Sells: Your Booth,". Please feel free to comment with any ideas you may have for us. Our personalized rhinestone t-shirts were made be Rhinestone Fashions. The custom apron, designed by Monster Promos, will come in handy for stashing the cash and craft tools!

Baby Shower Bliss!

Yes, I know we're supposed to be posting about our upcoming craft fair, but you'll find sometimes I get a little distracted and promise to help out a friend, when I really should be focusing on something else! So, over the past few days I made these thank you cards and the diaper cake for the mom-to-be at her baby shower.

I've seen many instructions on how to make a diaper cake, but I'm not big on instructions, I like winging it. But just in case you are wondering, here's what I did:

I used two packs of diapers, a pack of newborns and a pack of size 2 diapers. Why two different sizes you ask? Well, one can never have enough diapers, but it's nice for a mom to have a stash of larger sizes on hand, once the newborn ones run out. Also, it's hard to find brand name newborn diapers that are mostly white, which is the look I prefer for my cakes!

You will also need small elastic bands (preferably white or clear) or narrow ribbon, some decorative ribbon (I like 2" or wider), and a large circular platter (16" circular cardboard piece will work) to form your base.

~1st step is to roll each diaper, (make sure on the mostly white diapers there is no color showing when rolled). Then secure each diaper with an elastic band or a piece of narrow ribbon. Once the diapers are rolled you can then begin creating the layers or tiers.

~2nd, I use the platter as the base for my bottom layer. I stand the size 2 rolled diapers up around the perimeter of the platter and fill in with the newborn diapers. Once the circle is almost full, I wrap a piece of decorative ribbon around the middle of the diapers, and cut the ribbon (allow extra ribbon to tie a bow if so desired). Next you can fill in the gaps with more diapers until the layer can be picked up without losing any diapers! Alternatively, you can form a small circle of diapers first, tie with narrow ribbon and build a larger circle around the smaller one.

~3rd, repeat the process for next two layers, using the previous layer for the base. For the top layer, you might take a stuffed animal, bottle of baby lotion or shampoo, and place the diapers around it. This makes it easier to form the top layer and adds a functional, yet decorative cake topper! Have fun with your cake, focus on a theme, such as safari or colors, or whatever the shower theme might be! You can also add as many accessories to the cake as you like, pacifiers, rattles, baby booties etc by tying them on with pieces of narrow ribbon. If you're only feeling a little bit crafty http://www.diapercakewalk.com/catalog.php?category=10 has some premade cakes that you can decorate yourself. For beautifully decorated cakes at an affordable price, shop Mommy3Jesse: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5386417&section_id=5309956

Name These Tins!

Cinnamon & Spice are sweetening up their baby shower favor tin selection with these four new, fresh styles. The first two sets of tins we offered were soft, pastel and classic baby-theme oriented. These new additions are bright, cheery and fun. I created the polka-dot onesie and the yellow baby dress with my new Cricut Expression machine, a gift from hubby. That machine rocks! Using different cartridges, it can cut a seemingly endless number of shapes, and letters in 11 sizes ranging from 1/4 inch to 6 inches. I'm looking forward to all of the fabulous new scrapbooking and card creations on the horizon! These tins will be available soon on Etsy. Before we can list them, we need your assistance! Help us name these tins and receive one of our C&S original vintage image cards for FREE! Just leave your suggestion in the comments box and we will pick a winner, one week from today, on the 23rd!

Spring Sisters

Introducing the Spring Sisters! These are new additions to the pillow kids family. These two were inspired by my daughter Stephanie and sister Julie. They are exactly 1 year and 1 month apart in age and grew up as sisters. Watching them grow has been a joy. The “Spring Sisters” were created in celebration of them. The shimmering pink and exhilarating purple wool blends are just perfect for boosting your spirits for the incoming season. Also note that soon the pillow kids will be available in a new mini size (6.5 x 11). Stay posted, Cinnamon & Spice have got lots more on the horizon!

New Greeting Card Line at C&S Crafts

When I came across several vintage photographic images on Etsy I knew the time had come to try my hand at greeting cards. Well, I don’t think I could have found better photos for our new line of all occasion greeting cards. We have four unique cards, just in time for Mother’s Day (from top l to r): "Blessing of a Mother's Love", "Reflections", "A Rose for Mommy" and "Sweet Youth". And look at the pretty little matching tags which are blank on the back and perfect for gifts, journaling, a bookmark or many other possibilities! I spent a great deal of time deciding on how best to portray the images. Initially, I thought of a simple, yet charming card in which the photo was printed directly onto the blank card. It turned out to be a little, well, less than exciting. Perhaps it's just the scrapbooker in me that needs to embellish, embellish, embellish! But, I didn't want to overshadow the beauty of the pictures themselves, so I chose adornments that would hopefully enhance each one. Lovely satin ribbon, buttons, a pink paper rose, and even a little bling for added sparkle. Coming soon in our Etsy shop. Upcoming posts will detail Cinnamon & Spice's preparations for their first craft fair!

Come on Jayhawks!

Although I haven't had time to watch a single game during March Madness (too busy crafting), I am keeping up with the success of my alma mater, Kansas University. I did DVR last night's game and WILL take a break to watch the championship game. I couldn't be more excited that Kansas beat North Carolina (and no, not because I have any disdain for Roy Williams) but because I was there in '93 when we made it to the Final Four and lost to them. I don't care what the media says about how Kansas got to the Championship game, they're there now and I have a feeling they're going to take it all! For more on my beloved Jayhawks and their NCAA tournament history check out http://www.features.ku.edu/ku_march/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_Jayhawks_men%27s_basketball#Final_Four_history.

My Supportive DH

Well, Spice and I are into our third month of business ownership and absolutely loving it. We are definitely experiencing the ebb and flows of entrepeneurship and the various issues to tackle like the art of pricing, honing photography skills, marketing, marketing and can I just say marketing again! Last but definitely not least, is devising a work schedule around family life. What do they say about addiction, first you have to admit you have a problem? Well, I'm hooked on crafting, but I realize the need to strike that balance.

Which leads me to the subject of this post. I refer to him as my "dream come true", my DH. He is the most fabulous man I've ever met in my life and he loves me like there's no tomorrow. Although he might not verbalize it, he has shown me over the past few months how much he's excited about my joint business venture by going above and beyond at home. On many an occasion I can find him just before the kids' bedtime snuggled up and reading a book to both of them while I'm working away on my latest inspiration. This is of course after he's worked a 10-hour day, cooked dinner and gotten them ready for bed. After an occasional all-night crafting session, I awake on Saturday to find the house oddly quiet. "Where did everybody go?" I wonder. A short while later upon their return, I find he took the kids to Chik Fil-A to let Momma get some rest. I appreciate him for giving me the flexibility to "find my groove", yet at the same time saving me from myself when necessary (honey, just push back from the computer he often says). I'm sure it must be challenging for him to have the house all topsy-turvy (literally) but he rarely shows it. More often than not he just smiles and says "I really love you" which I translate to mean, "You're crazy, but you're my crazy". So, this was on my heart and wanted to share, like that Chris Brown hit says "Get you one, cuz I got that one!"